March has swept into the Houston/Galveston area with rain and eighty-degree weather. Our winter was almost non-existent. Summer will most likely be mosquito-littered and sticky as all get-out. Blech. We will soldier on, reading books by the pool, with iced chai and watermelon… But I’m getting ahead of myself. It’s still March, and this month’s book is Love in Lowercase by Francesc Miralles, evidently an International Bestseller.

From Amazon:A romantic comedy for language lovers and fans of The Rosie Project, about a brainy bachelor and the cat that opens his eyes to life’s little pleasures

When Samuel, a lonely linguistics lecturer, wakes up on New Year’s Day, he is convinced that the year ahead will bring nothing more than passive verbs and un-italicized moments—until an unexpected visitor slips into his Barcelona apartment and refuses to leave. The appearance of Mishima, a stray, brindle-furred cat, becomes the catalyst that leads Samuel from the comforts of his favorite books, foreign films, and classical music to places he’s never been (next door) and to people he might never have met (a neighbor with whom he’s never exchanged a word). Even better, the Catalan cat leads him back to the mysterious Gabriela, whom he thought he’d lost long before, and shows him, in this international bestseller for fans of The Rosie Project, The Solitude of Prime Numbers, and The Guest Cat, that sometimes love is hiding in the smallest characters.

Let me start by saying that I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED The Rosie Project. I gushed about it. When I saw this book recommended for fans of TRP, I snatched at the chance to read it. Let me tell you, this book is nothing like The Rosie Project. There are a few similarities: it was written by a male author, and told from the POV of a male professional who is extremely passionate about his work and looking for companionship. That’s pretty much where the similarities end.

I have read a lot of romance novels, and a lot of novels that have included romantic side plots and elements. I would not, however, classify this book as romantic at all–for two simple reasons. The romance plot is almost entirely one-sided. Samuel remembers knowing this woman as a child, and when he happens to see her again, in passing, after thirty years, he suddenly realizes he’s in love with her. He is obsessed with not only finding her again, but professing his love. It’s borderline creepy. Secondly, while a tiny thread of obsession is woven through the storyline, it really takes a backseat to the rest of the novel–there are very few interactions between Samuel and Gabriela. Plus, Samuel gives up on Gabriela multiple times in the book, and is actually tentatively pursuing a different woman. That’s pretty much the definition of not romantic.

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I can proceed with the rest of the review. Beyond my above complaints, I’m not entirely sure what to make of this book. It almost seems like a collection of the author’s favorite books (with the occasional movie or piece of music thrown in), quoted, paraphrased, and referenced, to make a story. It’s philosophy with a HEAVY dose of absurd.

I couldn’t relate to almost any of Samuel’s decisions. Example: He dislikes cats, but at the beginning of the novel, one runs through his door, and when he can’t lure him back out, he decides that he’ll keep him a couple of weeks. [insert eyeroll]. Then there’s the instalove with Gabriela (based on games of hide-and-seek as a six-year-old), and his agreement, when his upstairs neighbor (whom he’s just met) goes into the hospital, to WRITE AN ENTIRE BOOK for him, in order to meet a nonnegotiable deadline. [There aren’t enough eyerolls in the world.]

To sum up, this book was…interesting, but also tedious. I’ll admit, it did have somewhat of a happily-ever-after. By the end, Samuel’s life is much fuller, and there is the promise of a real romance in his future. If you don’t dive into it with any preconceived notions, you might just be okay.

Side note: I wasn’t able to finish last month’s book, The Wild Girl. When things started moving into the truly disturbing, I was unwilling to read any further. I’m disappointed I couldn’t get to the happily-ever-after.

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FCC: I checked this book out from the library, and the Amazon URL above is linked to my Associates account.

I have been a bad blogger. It’s been months since I’ve posted. Seasons have changed, holidays have come and gone. Books have been read. Convenient, as today is the first-of-the-year get-together of Barrie Summy’s Book Review Club, and the book I’ve chosen to share is The Wild Girl by Kate Forsyth.

I will admit: at the writing of this review, I have not yet finished this book, but I’m close. As soon as this review is written, I’ll be getting back to it. I’ll explain below.

From Amazon:One of six sisters, Dortchen Wild lives in the small German kingdom of Hesse-Cassel in the early 19th century. She finds herself irresistibly drawn to the boy next door, the handsome but very poor fairy tale scholar Wilhelm Grimm. It is a time of tyranny and terror. Napoleon Bonaparte wants to conquer all of Europe, and Hesse-Cassel is one of the first kingdoms to fall. Forced to live under oppressive French rule, Wilhelm and his brothers quietly rebel by preserving old half-forgotten tales that had once been told by the firesides of houses grand and small over the land.

As Dortchen tells Wilhelm some of the most powerful and compelling stories in what will one day become his and Jacob’s famous fairy tale collection, their love blossoms. But Dortchen’s father will not give his consent for them to marry and war, death, and poverty also conspire to keep the lovers apart. Yet Dortchen is determined to find a way.

Evocative and richly-detailed, Kate Forsyth’s The Wild Girl masterfully captures one young woman’s enduring faith in love and the power of storytelling.

When I found this book at the library, I was giddy with excitement to read it. The true story (mostly) of the Grimm brothers? The girl who lived beside them and was the source of many of their stories? Mid-nineteenth century Germany? Fairytales? Romance? YES, PLEASE!

Merely taken as a diary-like account of Dortchen Wild’s life in turn-of-the-19th century Germany is imminently readable. Add in Dortchen’s caring heart, deeply affected by the suffering of friends and family, and her knowledge of the remedies of (and superstitions surrounding) many flowers, plants, and trees, and the book comes alive. Layer in the joys and sorrows of the Grim and Wild families: Five brothers and one sister and six sisters and one brother, respectively, and lay a pall over it all: Herr Wild, Dortchen’s abusive father, and this book is quite fascinating.

I admit, Herr Wild is the reason my reading has slowed. His unnatural interest in his daughter. I know what’s coming. It’s been hinted at. And I don’t want to read it, imagine it, or consider it. So, I’m struggling. I so want to read Dortchen’s story–I’ve been invested since she was seven years old, and at this point in the story she is seventeen. And I know that before there can be a happy ending–which there will be–I have to push through the dark times. So I will. I just haven’t done it.

I recommend this book–highly. To anyone interested in fairytales, Germanic or Napoleonic history, or general historical fiction. The writing of this book must have been a monumental undertaking, involving considerable research, and it definitely shows. It’s truly excellent. I just need to power through…

Being that I’m a little fascinated and in love with book covers, I wanted to include two other versions of The Wild Girl here. While I think my favorite cover is the one above that I found at the library, I think the dark tone of the forest cover is spot-on. The other cover seems entirely too whimsical for the novel, although it fits well with Dortchen’s lively, sweet personality and her love of stories and nature.

Until next month…

Be sure to click through on the typewriter for some stellar reviews in all sorts of genres!

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@Barrie Summy

FCC: I checked this book out from the library, and the Amazon URL above is linked to my Associates account.